The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay
"The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay" is the pilot episode of the series The Venture Bros. It was first aired as a one-off on February 16, 2003. The actual series itself would not begin airing until a year and a half later, in August of 2004. The episode may not be entirely considered as canon, however, some elements have been addressed or used in later episodes. This is the only non-traditionally animated episode of the series. It was done in Macromedia (now Adobe) Flash. Plot The Monarch, a supervillain whose persona is built around misconceptions about the lethality of monarch butterflies, explains his scheme to destroy his archenemy, scientist Doctor Thaddeus Venture. The Monarch has constructed a ship that resembles a meteor and filled it with dozens of his henchmen. The "meteor" will fall on the grounds of the Venture compound; when the naturally curious doctor begins to analyze the vessel, the henchmen will emerge and overwhelm him. Meanwhile, two wide-eyed teenagers (fraternal twin brothers Hank and Dean Venture) are riding hoverbikes and looking for their dog Scamp. The boys, who look and talk as if they are in a sitcom from the 1950s, enter their father's lab and ask him about their pet. Dr. Venture responds with pride that a cosmetics corporation has asked him to solve the problem of test animals that die too quickly; therefore he has performed an experimental procedure on Scamp that removes his fur and skin while keeping him alive. With a flourish, Venture displays the gruesome pet in an isolation tank. The boys are dismayed, but their father convinces them that it is a noble sacrifice in the name of helping young women look attractive. Venture's bodyguard, Brock Samson, is busy washing the family jet in preparation for an upcoming trip. Venture tries to engage him in discussion, but Brock ignores him. Investigating noises from the landing gear, Brock finds a mummy and beats it savagely (and somewhat gleefully). As the battered figure lies motionless, Samson casually defiles it by urinating on the body to prevent re-animation. Venture examines the "mummy" and discovers that it is merely a man wrapped in bandages pretending to be a mummy, but the revelation seems to garner little interest. With the jet (the X-1) loaded for the trip to New York (where Venture will present his latest invention before a scientific symposium at the United Nations), the family prepares to leave. As Brock taxis the jet down the private runway, The Monarch's fake meteor slams into the ground a few yards away. However, Venture is on edge from nerves and the pills he has taken and says they have no time to investigate. As the X-1 takes off, the henchmen inside the "meteor" discover that they are trapped inside. A shadowy character follows Dr. Venture's every move in New York: Otaku Senzuri, a ninja intent on acquiring the new gadget. While Venture is sleeping, Senzuri manages to steal an equipment case but finds that it only contains Hank and Dean, who were pretending it was a submarine. The ninja knocks them unconscious and leaves them in an alley outside the hotel, where two thugs steal their communicator watches. When the boys wake up the next morning, they decide to have a "New York adventure" and set out on their own to explore the city. The Monarch arrives in a taxi and follows them, dealing with any interference through his "Sting of the Monarch" darts. At roughly the same time, Brock sets out to find the boys but heads in a different direction. He locates the two hoods and beats them mercilessly before reclaiming the watches. Arriving in Times Square, Hank and Dean spot a middle-aged prostitute who propositions them. Misinterpreting her offer, they accompany her back to a seedy apartment. After failing to explain her services to the boys, she touches Hank's crotch; the two teens respond by fleeing in terror. The Monarch, who had staked out the apartment, begins to follow them again but runs into Brock. The bodyguard questions the villain briefly before savagely beating him. Back at the U.N., Dr. Venture is introduced to explain his new invention, the "Ooh Ray". He cheerfully melts a model city in demonstration and is completely mystified by the audience's negative reaction. The U.N. representative hosting the conference scolds Venture, who fails to see any violent applications for his gadget, and apologizes to the crowd. Hank and Dean's blind panic has somehow led them back to the U.N. building, where they surprise their father. In a foul mood, Venture resigns himself to packing up the Ooh Ray for the trip home but discovers Senzuri masturbating next to the machine. A general arrives and orders the ninja's arrest; apparently, Senzuri is a technophile who can only achieve arousal in the presence of advanced technology. The general then cheers Venture up greatly by buying several dozen Ooh Rays for the Army (though Dr. Venture clearly has no idea what use the Army could make of his invention). Meanwhile, Brock is spending hundreds of dollars enjoying the hooker's services while The Monarch recuperates in the hospital from his injuries. Cultural references * Turtle Bay, referred to in the episode's title, is the area of New York in which the United Nations is located. * Another attendee of the symposium is a character modeled after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. * This episode has a motif similar to The Ren and Stimpy Show of having dramatic trumpet and saxophone jazz music play while absurd events are taking place onscreen (such as during Hank and Dean's encounter with the hooker). This would be abandoned in every other episode of the series. Miscellanea * Otaku Senzuri's first name is a reference to the phenomenon of otaku in Japan, an entire subculture of solitary information collectors (comparable to extreme versions of the American stereotype of the nerd), whose realm of interaction with others is often limited to the internet. His last name comes from the Japanese word senzuri, which is literally translated as "one thousand rubs" and is a term for male masturbation. His company's name, Onani Corporation also refers to this proclivity. * The Monarch, Brock and Dr. Girlfriend are drawn differently than in subsequent episodes. Brock is relatively normal-sized here, whereas in the rest of the series he towers over everyone else. Dr. Girlfriend's face is severely angular, with tiny features; she also has an adam's apple, something that is lacking in later episodes. The Monarch has an entirely different costume and is depicted as evil but incompetent, whereas the rest of the series portrays him much more lightheartedly and (except for ironically, information on the Monarch butterfly) with a greater amount of intelligence (though he is still incompetent the bulk of the time). * Dr. Venture is a respected and competent scientist in this episode. In future episodes he is seen as being a washout. * Several of the show's recurring and guest characters are introduced in menial roles at various points throughout the episode: although all are unnamed, Master Billy Quizboy and Pete White are fellow scientists at the symposium, as is Prof. Impossible, who appeared in later episodes including "Ice Station – Impossible!" Impossible's nameless state, background appearance and casual usage of his power of elasticity mean he was likely meant more as an oblique cameo as Mister Fantastic. * The majority of the show's characters are drawn in clothing styles common in previous decades to the show's apparent modern-day setting: Brock's four-pocket leisure shirts and zip boots, Dr. Venture's turtleneck and sportcoat combinations are highly reminiscent of 1970s fashion trends, as are the Venture boys' clothing, although unlike Dr. Venture and Brock, they are consistently drawn in the same clothes. Likewise, Pete White wears 1980s New Wave clothing, and Prof. Impossible is drawn in fashions popular among middle-aged men in the 1950s. This is probably done in reference to the shows such as Jonny Quest that The Venture Bros. routinely parodies. * The boys' pet dog Scamp is noted as having died in a later episode. * One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. This is included in all Season One episodes except the pilot where Mr. Albert is credited only as a "Computer Animator". Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay, The